March 1, 2026; El Monte, New York, USA; New York Islanders left wing Anders Lee (27) controls the puck during Game 1 of the game against the Florida Panthers at UBS Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Schneidler-Imagn Image Anders Lee scored the game-winning goal with 30.9 seconds left Sunday night for the surging New York Islanders, who overcame another two-goal deficit to beat the Florida Panthers 5-4 in El Monte. New York
Lee Seung-yeop stepped on Aaron Ekblad, extended his stick, drew goalkeeper Sergei Bobrovsky, and then placed a forehand into the wide open left goal.
Rookie Mathew Schafer had two goals and Carson Soucy and Bo Horvat also scored for the Islanders, who have won their fifth straight win. New York has been 2-0 in each of its last three wins.
Goalie David Rittich made 29 saves.
Sam Bennett scored twice and Sandys Vilmanis and Sam Rinehart each had one goal for the Panthers, who have lost seven of nine goals (2-7-0). Bobrovsky recorded 21 saves.
Vilmanis scored 3 minutes, 44 seconds into the period after the opener when he gloved a pass from AJ Greer and backhanded a shot that trickled down Rittich’s legs.
Bennett doubled the lead with 6 seconds on the power play with 5:06 left when a shot from the left faceoff circle went through Rittich’s glove.
The Islanders began their latest comeback in uncharacteristic fashion with 1:59 remaining. Schaefer’s shot from the right faceoff circle deflected before the crease, caromed over Bobrovsky’s head, missed the top post, hit his back and bounced into the net.
Soucy tied the game with a 4-on-4 goal with 7:28 to play. The defenseman took a drop pass from Simon Holmstrom that was draped in by the Panthers’ Gustav Forsling and sent a shot under Bobrovsky’s glove.
Bennett gave the Panthers the lead again with 7:56 remaining when a backhand from the center of the right faceoff circle went under Rittich’s stick arm.
Horvat tied the game with 2:46 left on an angled shot from near the goal line that landed under Bobrovsky’s stick.
Schaefer scored from the slot with 9:31 left in the third to give the Islanders their first lead of the game. This led Schaefer to score 20 goals this year at the age of 18, making him the youngest defenseman to score 20 goals in a season since Dion Phaneuf, 20, did so with the Calgary Flames in 2005-06.
Reinhart tied the game again with 1 minute, 58 seconds left when Bobrovsky drew an extra pointer.
–Field level media
